Army To Lead India's 65th I-Day Celebrations

From An MoD Statement: This year, India's Independence Day celebrations will be coordinated by the Army. The Guard of Honour tomorrow will be commanded by Lt Col N Seshagiri Rao of the Madras Regiment. The Army contingent will be commanded by Captain Ashwani Kumar Jha, Naval Contingent by Lt Cdr Vikram Singh, Air Force contingent by Sq Ldr Y Ananth Narayan and the Delhi Police contingent by ACP Rajnish Garg.

The Army contingent for PMâ€™s Guard is drawn from the 28th Battalion of the Madras Regiment. The battalion was raised on 01 July 1976 Guava Hill near Wellington (Ooty) and has completed 35 glorious years of service. It has served with distinction in all kinds of operational environment including high altitude, Line of Control and counter insurgency/terrorism operations. The unit was awarded the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, Unit Appreciation for its commendable performance in Op RAKSHAK and Op VIJAY (J&K) during 1998-99.

In 35 years, personnel of the unit have been awarded one Vir Chakra, one AVSM, three Shaurya Chakras, 15 Sena Medals and three Vishist Seva Medals. The Battalion has arrived in New Delhi after a very successful deployment on the Line of Control in the Rajouri Sector of J&K and is responsible for conducting various ceremonial duties at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, India Gate, Red Fort and other important ceremonial functions organized by HQ Delhi Area.

After inspecting the Guard of Honour tomorrow morning, the Prime Minister will proceed to the ramparts of the Red Fort where he will be greeted by Defence Minister, Minister of State for Defence, Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Verma and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne. The GOC Delhi area will conduct the Prime Minister to the dais to unfurl the National Flag. The unfurling of the tri-colour will synchronize with the 21 Gun Salute fired by the valiant gunners of the elite 299 Field Regiment. The ceremonial battery will be commanded by Maj Vijay Kumar Shah and the Gun Position Officer will be Sub (AIG) Gurappadu R.

The Army contingent for the National Flag Guard is from the 2nd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment. Raised on November 30, 1798 at Badgaon, the Battalion designation has been changed eight times since its inception. Now known as the 2nd Battalion of the Rajput Regiment (Kalichindi), it has bagged nine battle honours and one theatre honour and has taken part in 1947, 1962 and 1971 operations, where its officers and men have exhibited extraordinary courage and valour. The battalion has been awarded with one Mahaveer Chakra, ten Vir Chakra, three Sena Medal (Gallantry), two Param Vishist Sewa Medal, two Ati Vishist Sewa Medal, one Yudh Seva Medal, two Vishist Seva Medal and eleven Sena Medal. The Battalion has the honour of having served in Sudan as part of the United Nation Peace Keeping Mission during 2007-08. The 2nd Battalion, Rajput Regiment also has the privilege of having given us the present Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh, who is also the Colonel of the Rajput Regiment.